A Winner is Two Joruus C'Baoth
by Aelsthla-Mental
Summary: Joruus C'Baoth has escaped death. Now he is on an island controlled by Rich people of a seedy nature. To obtain a spacecraft to his galaxy, he must help Enforce a tournament in which people fight to the death for money. Can he Survive this ordeal?
1. The Force Guided Man

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_**If you wish to understand the whole story, go check out avatarjk137's "A Winner is Two!" Forum. As well as said user's story "A Winner is Two: A Survivalist is You!"  
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_**This story is for a tournament, this is just the intro. Anyway, read on and I hope you enjoy!  
**_

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**A Winner is Two!**

Enforcer Entry: Joruus C'Baoth

She bowed before him, just like his vision.

…Yet his vision had betrayed him, for she came not to serve him, but to slay him.

The lightsaber's hissing sound filled the entire field of collapsed rocks and ferrocrete around them. The red headed woman known as Mara Jade, one of the last of the Jedi, impaled him with intense fury. For to her it was not Joruus who stood before her. But the Emperor, who had controlled her, manipulating her into doing his dirty business.

With his last moments, Joruus screamed. Not like his previous scream which had caused the shattering of the room in the first place that sapped the will of the opposition to fight, neither was it like a scream of a man dead. It was worse, far worse.

The scream was the man tearing his own spirit from flesh, sending it hurtling into the cosmos.

The spirit's movement could be seen from the ethereal plain as causing destruction and tears in the very fabric of space in its wake.

It had no path, no destination, nothing except a seething desire to live. The spirit itself may have not understood what drove them, but it went on.

'…_What have I done?' _The spirit of Joruus thought._ 'I was creating the perfect world. A world needed by those inferior beings.'_ Dark thoughts began surfacing. _'They did the same thing to me as they did the original Jedi Order, manipulating a Jedi to stop utopia. The Galaxy does not deserve us! And yet, I must…'_

Suddenly, the spirit felt a tug, which quickly became a yank as the spirit was forced into a specific spot in the cosmos, called by some unknown force…

* * *

Joruus woke up soundlessly. Warily, showing his age, he got up.

He looked around, none too pleased with his surroundings.

It was a charred wasteland, completely flat until there was a wall of earth on both sides, he must have been in a canyon, a rather large one too, both sides were barely visible, although that was also because of the putrid gas obscuring the area.

Yet the old man's lungs must have been rather healthy, for he breathed far easier then he should have been, with only an odd cough or two to show for it.

After letting his surroundings sink in, he murmured 'What is this place?'

He closed his eyes, reaching out with the force, searching for something, anything.

And abruptly, found it.

There was teeming life, but it started so suddenly that there must have been some barrier blocking them.

Perhaps the gas surrounding him now.

It was in all directions. But the only way to go was to follow the valley. He had become accustom to being a hermit. But he had been use to not having to be anywhere in particular (as this gas forced him to), and relying on reading the minds of animals to find locations of food and water. So he really should get out of here, and fast.

Unsteadily, he began moving, towards whatever life he could detect.

* * *

'Uuhh, my lord, we have a problem.'

Charles Foster Ofdensen turned around from the computer he had been on to look at his employee, his number was 844. The black and dark grey uniforms that left their arms bare, showing him to be the traditional muscle man he usually hired, with brown eyes and black hair, currently visible due to taking off the black hood that entirely covered their heads. 844 usually stammered when he had to talk to higher-ups, not even bothering with putting up a façade like most of his hired men. Ofdensen got up and stared at him for two seconds, enough to remind 844 of who was boss, but not long enough to increase the man's fear, which would cause him to make further mistakes.

'Then please state the problem.' Ofdensen stated clearly, not allowing any emotion to pass through his clear grey eyes.

'Well sir, one of the remote-controlled aircraft found someone.'

'And this is news, why?' Ofdensen raised an eyebrow. Inwardly, he asked the question he knew the answer to. How had this man made it through the entrance exam, not to mention lived this long?

The answer was behind that hesitant exterior was a very capable and strategic fighter.

844 blushed. 'O-of course sir. He seems to be an elderly man, wearing rather eastern medieval robes, although they look well made.

'Well, it doesn't sound like anybody who should be here. Not to mention no-one new should be arriving for half an hour.' He allowed curiosity to appear on his face; to show 844 he was indeed interested, and it was a good thing he had been told. 'Where is this man currently?'

'My lord, he is in the canyon.'

That caused him to pause, and consider. 'The gas in the canyon should kill anyone in a minute, if they're lucky. How long has he been there?'

'Longer then a normal person should be alive, especially considering the age of the man.'

Possibly there was no time to waste, just because he survived longer then a regular human didn't mean he could survive much longer. '844, get a team of 12 other Klokateers and a helicopter to investigate. When you have apprehended the man, if he is alive, send me a video feed from the helicopter to this computer.' He made sure that the instructions were clear, yet fast. The old man might not have long to live after all, and he was quite curious on how someone could get past security.

'Yes, my lord!' He saluted and hurriedly took off.

Now that he was gone, it was time to consider who this aged man was and how he got here. Admittedly, the barrier isn't online yet, but the security here should have detected people coming to this island and acted accordingly, and there had been no message of anyone nearby. Or even, for that matter, news of anyone dead or gone.

It was pretty conclusive when you put the facts straight. A man managed to get past security, and live longer then should be possible in a hostile environment. That old man wasn't normal, clearly.

Was he dangerous?

Well, that was why he sent Klokateers, he didn't know. After that scare in the last tournament, the idea quickly came to mind that the man was a demon. But Ofdensen couldn't allow bias to seep in, there were plenty of things that old man could be, hadn't the whole last tournament taught oh so many that? Spirits, Genetic Experiments, alternate universe beings; and demons of course.

Of course, even if they were dangerous, they could still be useful. There was an opening for an Enforcer, if he recalled. And if he could get hold of him, he could have more control over the tournament. For any future plans he may have.

Well, unless they had trouble, the Klokateers should have that man in about ten seconds. Ofdensen straightened his glasses and fiddled with his red tie, it was usually good to appear tidy to people.

Fifteen seconds later, the computer screen flared to life. 844, now cloaked, saluted. 'My lord, we have obtained the individual. He goes by the name of Joruus C'Baoth.' He was slightly louder then usual, despite the helicopter being almost silent. They had been specially designed that way, by George Sears.

'Have you discovered anything strange about him? Anything that might allow him to survive?'

'Not as of yet sir, he was rather quiet when w let him in, aside from saying he wished to speak to our superior.'

'Well, bring him to the screen, I wish to speak to him. Oh, and leave the room please.'

The Helicopter in question was larger then most, and had a dim black soundproof room with the monitor, in case private information needed to be disclosed to a specific person in question. It was located near the end of the helicopter, the opposite side from the pilot's area.

844 nodded, and vanished from the screen. Five seconds later a new figure was there. He wore, as 844 had said, a brown robe. He had a long, white beard reaching his chest and plenty of (still white) hair on his head.

He was tall, and thin, although he was still somewhat muscular. His brown eyes stared at Ofdensen with curiosity, and a hint of disdain. The lines on his face reflecting both his oldness and (probably) dislike of most things that happened.

Amazing what a glance could tell you.

'I am Joruus C'Baoth.' He announced, as if talking to a large audience, his voice surprisingly baritone. 'And who might you be?'

'My name is Charles Foster Ofdensen.' He said, completely neutral. 'Do you realize you are on private property?

Joruus Snorted. 'Amazing how people like to challenge that, isn't it?'

'Well, I would like to ask how you managed to survive that toxic…'

'I need a spacecraft out of here.' Joruus interrupted.

'First I would like you to answer the question.' Ofdensen patiently told him.

Joruus glared. 'I am a Jedi.' He said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. 'Now, give me my Spacecraft.'

'Now Mr. Joruus, you should know nothing in life is free. If you want something capable of space travel, you are going to have to give us something in exchange.'

'Please… I need to help the galaxy. It needs to see the truth.' His voice had changed, it was like a child begging for a toy, and to add to the image, the lines on his face seemed to vanish as he said those words.

Ofdensen raised an eyebrow, something only an immense amount of surprise could cause. The man had just before shown himself as a kind of person who sees themselves as a God. Now he was begging in the space of seconds. Something seemed wrong with this man.

He considered, for a moment, having the Klokateers kill this man outright. But there was still the possibility that this man had abilities that could be put to good use.

Perhaps a direct tactic would work.

'Mr. Joruus, you are a Jedi. What can a Jedi do?'

'The will of the Force,' he murmured, somehow managing to murmur loudly.

'_The man is part of some cult, then?'_ Ofdensen cleared his throat. And what does the will of the Force allow you to do?'

'It allows me to show the galaxy truth,' was his mystical reply.

Ofdensen suppressed a sigh. 'Very well, I'll arrange you a deal when you arrive at the base, me or a representative will be waiting.

'I shall wait, for my spacecraft.' A hint of malice made its way into those words.

Sighing, Ofdensen shut off the monitor. He'd get to Joruus later, for now he had some other guests to attend too…

* * *

Sakyo waited at the Helipad. 'I wonder, who is Joruus?' He asked himself. His intelligent blue eyes gazed at the helicopter, slowly and silently coming down.

He had offered to do this mainly because he had not heard of this Enforcer, and disliked things going on without him. Well, things that could endanger him anyway. Just because he was willing to gamble his life didn't mean he let things go their own way if it could be a threat.

BORED members were together not so much because of trust, but of mutual benefit. They all had resources and expertise in areas. But they all knew no-one got in a position of power like their own without some rather shady dealings and not quite ethical business strategies.

The Helicopter reached the helipad, landing quickly. Thirteen Klokateers quickly exited the helicopter, followed by Joruus.

Quickly analysing the old man, Sakyo knew there was more to this old man that met the eye. The most obvious thing was he still hadn't entered the stairwell, yet he wasn't wearing a gas mask.

'This is our master.' One Klokateer said, motioning towards Joruus.

Sakyo raised an eyebrow, 'master?'

The klokateer shook his head, as if shaking something out of his head. 'I mean Joruus C'Baoth, sir.' The words seemed strained coming out of his mouth. Something seemed amiss here; perhaps it was a good thing he came.

'Follow me, Joruus.' He beckoned. Joruus followed silently as they walked into the base.

'In this room please.' He beckoned towards a nondescript black door, the same as several others they had passed.

The entered, it was a room with several chairs and a large circle table, but apart from that completely empty.

'Sometimes people eat in here.' Sakyo explained, neglecting to say that those people were mainly low-ranked dregs. The man looked like he expected a lot, so he figured it might hurt his ego to be told that.

Sakyo sat down. 'Please sit, Mr. Baoth.'

'I'd rather stand.' Was the cold reply.

'Have it your way.' Sakyo shrugged. 'Now, I believe we were to hire you…'

'You are not the one who I made an agreement with.' Joruus interrupted. 'I was to speak with Ofdensen about obtaining a spacecraft.'

'_A spacecraft?'_ Sakyo wondered. With a mental shrug, he said out loud 'I am of an equal rank with the man you spoke with, and as I had free time and I was busy, I am to make an arrangement with you.'

'I must show the galaxy truth and peace.' Joruus went quiet, his eyes glazed over.

Sakyo waited a few moments before giving a cough to get Joruus' attention. 'Me, Ofdensen, and others are sponsoring a tournament; fighters from all over will be in combat for many millions of dollars.

Joruus snorted. 'You wish me, A Jedi master, to fight like some hound for a bone?'

'Oh of course not, Mr. Baoth.' Sakyo calmly replied. 'You are to be an Enforcer. You help keep the action going, if it gets boring to the spectators. After, Ofdensen will supply you with your spacecraft.

'Truly, it is what the savage, barbaric young people of the galaxy enjoy.' He said, venom in his voice.

'And plenty of elder people, I assure you.' Sakyo added.

'Mature people no longer exist in the galaxy; they are all dead, except me.' Joruus stated calmly. He straightened himself up. 'However, to bring peace to the galaxy, I shall do as you ask.'

'Very good, glad to have you with us.' He paused. 'Oh, and you remember what you did with that guard?'

Joruus gazed into Sakyo's eyes. 'I showed him the truth, what I shall do to everyone in the future'

'You did some form of mind control, now I was wondering how good you are at that sort of thing.

'Beyond your wildest imagination' was his quiet reply.

'Well, I was wondering if you had the ability to exert influence over the contestants?'

Joruus snorted. 'You wish for a battle of puppets?'

'No, I wish you to enhance their will to fight, make even the least interested want to fight. It will make it a whole lot easier to keep them going,' a purple glint came in Sakyo's eyes, 'unless you are not capable of doing so?'

'Of course I am.' Joruus snapped, his eyes glowing with an inner fire. 'But when I do my part of the bargain, I expect a spacecraft to be waiting. With that, he left the room. A glint of steel caught Sakyo's eye. And he noticed on the belt of the rather ancient and low-tech looking man, was a metal cylinder.

He hadn't even asked for anything else. Would he know of his room? His electronic key card?

Well, he didn't have to worry about it, nor did he have to worry about how Ofdensen would obtain a spacecraft for that crazy old man.

Sakyo smirked. He had felt it during the conversation, a force trying to exert pressure upon his mind, to read it and take control. He had brushed off the force easily. As could anyone else with a strong enough mind, he hypothesized. That man was no threat to him, and that was the important thing.

* * *

Joruus walked briskly through the campus. Knowing where he was going through the information he dug out of the minds of the numerous people here, he had already obtained an ID.

The campus was rather repetitive, a bored person could note that the doors were all the exact same space apart, until you went by another staircase, where it got slightly more randomized, with different sized rooms. Some must have been as large as basketball stadiums, others the size of a closet.

He entered one of those closet-sized ones, the janitor's closet, to be precise. The Janitor was not due to be here for another two hours, it seemed. It was large as far as janitor closets went, but still heaped with cleaning supplies and the traditional mop.

Lying down in the closet, he meditated.

His Body had not yet recovered, he could feel the sweat. He had restrained breathing heavily before, but now he hyperventilated.

It had been hard, to go through that toxic gas, hard to use the force to cleanse small amounts of air for him to breath, hard when he didn't have the energy for that, to support his body on force alone.

And then trying to exert his abilities to control minds…

His power had weakened, that man's mind was easy enough, yet it broke easily once the man was reminded of his boss. But Joruus supposed that weakened powers was preferable then death.

Especially since it was coming back, He smiled; a kid about to get ice-cream was what the face reminded you of. Oh yes, he was weak now. But even now he could sense his power slowly, but surely returning to him. From where he knew not, but eventually he could break those minds that escaped him, exert his power over those which needed to be enlightened.

Scowling, he reminded himself of what he had been asked to do, before he had the energy to do so no less! Exert his energy over people all around an island would be difficult. But he would manage, he needed to manage. The Force required him to. It had given him a second chance at life to finish what he started.

He would not disappoint…

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_**I Don't own anyone in this story, except 844 I suppose.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed it. It was rather tricky to write, I never knew much on Sakyo or Metacolypse, so I tried my best, hope it doesn't show too much.**_

_**Hopefully next time, with only one unknown character, i'll be able to focus more on the description and stuff, as I think I could do a much better job.  
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_**Hope this chapter, and the rest of the tournament, is to everyone's liking!  
**_


	2. Dominion

'Tell me, what do these fools think power is?'

'They think power is industry, controlling all the daily needs and taking what they want. Some of them even think it's physical strength!'

'Yes, but you and me know what true power is, correct?'

A pleasant laugh filled the dorm. Joruus C'Baoth smiled as he looked at the man whom he had called, and who had responded. He was his.

'After all, it is this that's power. Soon everyone here, no matter how hard they foolishly resist, will be mine. I shall teach them, command them.' Pausing, he added emphasis to the next two words. 'Punish them.'

He laughed yet again. And the man with him couldn't help but laugh as well; Joruus just seemed to radiate happiness.

'MR. BAOTH!'

That shattered the serenity. The man groaned as the euphoria seemed to fade away. Joruus' face became completely neutral, but the man could feel the anger, it hurt.

And then Sakyo entered the room, his face alight with fury. This had not been a good day. First there had been reports of Deadpool crashing his way into the tournament, and then he had learned of some extra irritating details regarding the failure of the previous tournament, including the fact that Death by Chocolate was alive.

And then there was the smaller detail of Kotomine. He could not help but feel the priest being with BORED was meant to be a sort of warning, or even a threat, to Sakyo. It didn't seem to be very logical to have a priest with them, or indeed the priest to give them the Holy Grail. It didn't quite add up, and made him suspicious that they were hiding something.

And then there had been the final nail into the coffin. He had asked one of the underlings he had borrowed from Ofdensen (942, if Sakyo recalled correctly), since they had allowed few of his demonic underlings along, to report to him, and the bloody human hadn't shown up!

So he had stormed out of his office and tried to locate him. However all he got were strangely blank looks or people almost acting as if they were having a seizure trying to remember.

And it had all clicked, so here he was in Baoth's room.

Baoth's room was rather different from when it had started. For one thing, pretty much everything had been taken out. The faint imprint of the dresser and everything left on the white carpet. All that was left was the bed, which Joruus was currently sitting on.

And Sakyo's missing subordinate was next to him, staring at Joruus as if he was the messiah.

'You seem to be troubled, Sakyo.' Baoth didn't even look at Sakyo, instead just smiling at the subordinate who quickly copied the smile like a trained parrot, although his face still seemed to be contorted with pain. To make things worse, Joruus' tone was mocking, and Sakyo was at the end of his patience.

'Why does this man pain you, master Baoth.' The underling grumbled, the smile fading away and he held his hands to his head.

Sakyo picked up his underling effortlessly, followed by slamming him face-first into the wall. But his eyes never left Baoth.

'You would do well to remember your place and reason to be here.' Despite the fury, Sakyo's voice remained level. The underling dropped with a thud. 'But perhaps you need clarification. No doubt your age is getting the better of you.'

There was no angry retort, no outburst. Baoth seemed to hold the emotional high ground.

'You are here to observe the competition, and if need be, get involved so it continues running by eliminating the more dull competitors. As a secondary mission, you can manipulate the more dull competitors to a more vicious state.'

'But of course.' Baoth smirked. 'However, I have been cooped up in this room, as there has seemed to be nothing worth my time to confront directly. And your underling was wasted on you. What use is he if you are going to demote him to your drink handler?'

Sakyo was about to retort, but froze. Something was wrong here. His underling shouldn't have known that, there were many other places he could have been demoted even if he had feared that was going to happen, and yet Joruus had picked the correct one. That meant…

Taking deep breaths Sakyo cleared his mind. Sensing the alien presence, he calmly pushed it out.

Baoth showed no indication of being pushed out of his mind. He just continued waiting for an answer.

'Actually, I have a contestant for you to eliminate…' A slight pause as Sakyo rummaged through his head of the surviving contenders. '…Beatrix Kiddo, an elite assassin.'

'Oh, that's a waste of my time. Go get someone else to do it.' Baoth waved lazily, turning his head to the prone form of the underling.

'_Is he even listening to me?'_ Clearing his throat, Sakyo countered'But you were right when you said you were cooped up in here. And besides, you have to earn your keep.'

It was then something snapped. Joruus' face contorted, you could feel the sudden wave of fury emanating from the man.

'You come in here, hurt my people, and demand a Jedi Master to act as an errand boy!' He shouted loud enough to cause the until-then unconscious underling to stir.

Sakyo was almost relieved. He preferred this angry Joruus to the more controlled one. It was easier to manipulate.

'This isn't an easy task Joruus.' Sakyo said soothingly, a voice that he had been out of practice with until he had met Joruus. 'I wouldn't come to you if it was easy or unnecessary. The truth is, Ofdensen wants to test you. He wants to see if you are capable of teaching the galaxy and if you deserve the ship given to you.' It was pretty good, Sakyo thought, especially for something made up on the spot.

'Unnecessary, but it's understandable that people like him need demonstrations.' Joruus calmed down slightly before standing up straight, determination lining his face as he exited the room. Pausing before he closed the door, he whispered so Sakyo had to strain his hearing to understand it. Despite this, he heard every word. 'I do hope you know it's not good to gamble your life against someone who can see the truth.'

And when Sakyo was sure Joruus was gone, he gave a sigh of relief. He didn't quite know how long that lunatic would be, but it should be enough for him to wipe out any traces of mind control people here had, or at least discern who was being controlled and perform necessary actions

Perhaps when Joruus got back, they should be waiting with weapons primed.

And yet, it was a risk Sakyo wasn't sure he should take. Joruus was dangerous, and Sakyo wished fervently that the man had been shot on sight. He was a bomb that could go off at any moment. He may well even try to seize control of the island. And if that maniac got control of Operation: Black Lotus, who knows what he would do?

He would have to think about it, but every second was precious.

* * *

Joruus strode through the forest with ease that seemed to go against his ancient physique.

The sun was beginning to set, bathing the forest in an orange glow. You would think insects would be buzzing around everywhere, but an all too easy suggestion by Joruus kept them away, giving the feeling of being alone in the world to an observer.

But not to Joruus, even now he was in the minds of others, manipulating, or simply reading. But he couldn't do anything major without concentrating.

Finding an even patch of earth in a large gap between trees, Joruus sat down and began to meditate. He searched the forest, feeling the minds of the numerous people on the island. Until, at last…

'_Found you…'_

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**_Hope you enjoyed it!_**

**_Next chapter shall be the actual battle between Joruus and Beatrix._**


	3. Bride vs Joruus, Kill Enforcer!

Beatrix Kiddo laid on the edge of a mountain, exhausted. It was the afternoon and the sun still shone its warmth, but her body screamed for rest.

And no wonder, considering the hell it had been through.

Scars; some fresh, some old and already scabbed over, littered her body. But the most noticeable ones were the scars that left her in a perpetual smile.

Images of that monster entered her mind. Shuddering, she tried to push it out with her memories of B.B.

That got a little difficult; however, as the monster himself stepped out of the bushes.

'It's nice to have another good look at you.' He licked his lips. 'And I do love my improvements, don't you?'

Beatrix got up unsteadily, but she managed to get into a battle stance. The Joker grinned, really grinned, and took out a knife. He gave it an experimental lick before advancing towards her.

It was then it dawned of Beatrix that she had a gun.

She took the gun out, but somehow the Joker was already in front of her, knife coming down. She sprung back, accidentally dropping the gun in the process. But despite this she cleanly dodged the slash.

Now the Joker was in between her and the gun. Beatrix made a move to grab her own knife, but as if anticipating it the Joker lunged forward, and Beatrix stumbled back.

Another strike, Beatrix moved to counter but the Joker froze, taking a step back to avoid her entirely.

Something felt wrong about this fight.

Beatrix couldn't quite place her finger on it, but there was something… off about the Joker; something had changed.

He acted as she remembered, except for his fighting.

Exhausted as her mind was, it was still able to notice how the Joker's attacks seemed to be purposefully slow, how there would be a sudden burst of speed when he avoided an attack.

He didn't even seem to be trying to win, just exhaust her.

And it was working.

Exhaustion was beginning to cloud her mind and reflexes, a step back to dodge a slash made her stumble on a tree root, the knife came down towards her foot.

And passed right through.

…Had she just imagined that? Perhaps even now she was dieing of blood loss.

And yet, there was no pain, no hole where the knife had plunged. And the Joker was striking again.

She decided not to dodge this time, but the Joker slashed out where she would have dodged.

Now that she thought about it, the Joker didn't seem to be disturbing so much as a twig under thick-soled shoes.

Calmly, she turned her back to it.

The insults, the bloodthirsty sounds, they seemed only to be pathetic. A mere imitation of what she had truly seen.

And indeed, the Joker said nothing very different from what she had heard before, it was like a recording; the same things repeated again and again.

Someone was after her, someone who could project images, someone who had probably watched everything she had done.

Perhaps someone who was running the tournament.

At any rate, it was probably best to keep moving.

Despite her exhaustion, injuries, despite everything, her will and determination kept her moving.

* * *

She didn't break.

It didn't make sense to him. He should have broken into her exhausted mind; she should even now be at peace knowing she was doing the true purpose of beings in the universe. And yet she still maintained control.

She denied him control without use of the Force. That meant only one thing.

She was an abomination, a slight irritation unfit to live. She had to be eliminated.

It was irritating, but one of the reasons for a Jedi.

Sighing, he got up. She would pay for this, oh yes she would.

He gave his robes a quick dusting off. With that, he walked in the most direct angle towards his opposition. Roots, insects, and everything close by seemed to shy away.

* * *

Beatrix rested on the trunk of a fallen tree.

Will and Determination only got her so far before common sense told her going further would be more damaging then good. So after about a kilometre, she had rested.

But Beatrix slept like a cat, and woke up when she heard a disturbance.

It was night time now, with only a crescent moon giving off light that barely reached the earth.

But she could hear it, footsteps. Slow, steady footsteps.

They knew she was there. She got up, gun in both hands and aiming in the direction of the noise.

A figure emerged from the forest, and Beatrix fired.

She heard the bang, but the wraith advanced closer, no sign of being injured.

'_Another illusion?'_

Come to think of it, the movement she heard wasn't quite where the figure was, it was displaced.

'You're a real son of a bitch, you know that?' Swinging her gun towards the noise, she fired again.

Still nothing.

Then again, she should probably have guessed that, the Joker illusion before also had sound effects.

'Weak…' A stern voice seemed to echo in the surrounding area, seemingly having no origin.

This was getting frustrating. She only had a fifteen bullet clip, and while she had some extras, reloading would leave her vulnerable. So that left thirteen bullets.

She had to be careful with her ammo.

Another movement, another figure leaping towards her. She allowed it close and, as she suspected, it passed right through.

'Going to have to do better then that.' She stated coldly.

The next one, however…

Swinging at the next noise, she fired.

This time, the figure crumpled, managing to drag himself next to a tree before ceasing to move. Even in the dim light, she could see the reddish tint of blood.

'Gotcha, you maniac.' Grinning, she moved to inspect the body, firing another shot into it just to be sure. No reaction.

It was as she moved her hand towards the prone figure when her mind screamed that something was wrong, she leapt back as some sort of solid beam of light structured like a staff went through the tree where her neck would have been.

And it was quite literally through the tree, as if it didn't exist.

Actually, it probably didn't. Even now she could see through it, and vaguely see a figure behind it.

'Well, you're just a naughty boy, aren't you?' She managed to force out amidst heavy breathing.

'_Another illusion? Just how many of the bloody things are there?'_

She was now becoming a bit conscious of just how loud the gun was. It rang out like thunder in a cave and could quite easily attract other contestants.

And there was the fact there was only eleven bullets left.

But considering she didn't know what her opponent was capable of, it was probably safer to use the gun and risk further opposition.

Besides, while she could possibly defeat the man in hand to hand combat, he kept his distance far enough to keep out of her fist range, but close enough so he was in his blade's range. His strikes were also swift enough to prevent any disarming attempts and really only gave her time to avoid them.

Bringing the gun forward, she fired again, using the light as a sort of indicator for the aiming.

The beam of light hissed, but the figure seemed unhurt. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to shoot it; bullets didn't seem to be able to get through.

So it would be better to shoot around it.

A thought struck her as she aimed into the darkness. The beam of light wasn't actually illuminating as much as it should. It was as if the emanating from it was being contained.

Well, the man seemed to be able to create illusions, why not?

She almost laughed then, but caught herself before doing so. It was strange; laughing wasn't exactly in character for her. Not to mention laughing could be a good way for that man to decapitate her with the glowing blade.

This battle was doing something no battle had in a long time; it was making her lose focus.

'Well, you're a challenge, I'll give you that.' She grinned, although she wasn't sure if that would be visible to her opponent. 'Pity you had to be a crazy stalker who knows too much about me…'

Illumination or not, the blade was visible enough to give her a general idea where to shoot. '…And yet not enough to know you should stay the bloody hell away from me!'

Joruus chuckled, the voice once again didn't seem to come from any particular place. 'Oh, I have to punish those who disobey. But tell me, how did you disobey?'

'_How… not why?'_ Despite the slight confusion Beatrix gave a fake laugh with her eyes open as she answered back 'I'm a bit defiant, if that's what you mean.'

She backed away slowly, keeping her gun ready to fire. Two shots on both sides of the blade, the blade intercepted one side but, as she expected, did not have the reflexes to block the other one.

And yet, still nothing. The indicating blade showed no sign of the figure collapsing. The shot had been slightly off, she supposed.

The blade swept towards her, quickly stepping back, she didn't see the leg coming until it struck her in the stomach, winding her and she collapsed to the ground.

She quickly brought her gun up to bear, firing seven times to stall for time, more than anything else, while she got up. The blade intercepted all the shots which were fired at the same angle with ease and didn't give her time to get up as the blade came down in a vertical strike. Beatrix reeled back, slamming against a tree, her elbow smashed against the bark, forcing her hand to the trigger and another bullet out of the chamber.

So Beatrix was rather surprised to see the blade suddenly fall to the floor and vanish from sight. That shot had worked when all else had failed. It almost made her laugh hysterically. All her training, and a shot she hadn't even intended had struck the blow when all else had failed?

Well, she could ponder that later. First she had to make sure the man was dead.

Standing up, Beatrix cautiously moved towards the man, hearing the faint breathing. She was prepared to avoid the blade should it appear again. The faint moonlight allowed her to see the faint outline of the man, and holding the pistol, she aimed it down at his head.

Then, she pulled the trigger.

There was an almost deafening noise as the gunshot rang out. There was little left of the man's head. A bullet at point blank range did its job well.

Sighing with relief, she turned around to check if anyone was watching.

And at that moment, she signed her own death warrant.

The blade came alive with a violent hiss and was in her chest before her weary reflexes had any time to react. She crumpled to the floor thinking of B.B., how she may survive this tournament. She certainly wasn't thinking of a sixteenth bullet in a fifteen bullet clip.

* * *

Joruus had stabbed her similar to a fencing technique, that was because he only had one good arm. The crazy woman had done the unthinkable and shot his left arm! Even now he felt the blood streaming out of his wound, and the searing jolts of bone fragments cutting further into his agonised flesh.

But, more importantly, he still had his head intact.

It was amazing what these lesser beings would do when not properly controlled. It was just further evidence to his point. They did what they wanted, which was always destructive and barbaric.

But it was over, he supposed. Now was not the time to dwell on it. In fact, now was the time to go back to his people. It seemed others were trying to take them away from him. And he couldn't allow that…

* * *

**_This was an interesting chapter to write. If a bit difficult. It seemed hard to pair those two off in a fight, but i think i managed decently well. I do hope it was an interesting read for all of you!_**

**_Joruus' Lightsaber was made by me, they never say if he had one in the book, but i always imagined him having a white one, it fitted. White symbolize: purity; which he thinks he is, death; which he causes plenty of; and insanity, which... Well take a wild guess._**

**_Had never seen Kill Bill, so I based Beatrix off a few clips and the current chapters written by Kohaku, in which i made a (hopefully) accurate portrayal._**

**_So yeah, hope you enjoyed and have a nice day._**


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